A THUG who left a five-year-old boy covered in bruises when he hit him to the head and body has walked free from court.

Cory Taylor caused a number of injuries to the youngster when the child’s mother went out for the evening and even claimed the boy suffered them after falling out of bed.

The 26-year-old’s assault left the little boy traumatised and is still struggling more than two years after the incident, Teesside Crown Court heard.

In a victim impact statement, the young boy’s mother outlined the affect that the thug’s violence had on him.

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It read: “He was five-years-old and I can’t forget seeing his bruised face and ears when he walked through my sister’s door. He had suffered in many ways due to this abuse.

“He has trouble trusting anyone, in particular men he doesn’t know. He also struggles to trust people he does know and is better on one-to-one basis. He has needed to have play therapy since this happened.”

Recorder Andrew Sutcliffe QC sentenced Taylor to 22 months in custody, suspended for two years.

He said: “The injuries were consistent, not with him falling out of bed, but from you striking him, clearly, extremely hard to his face, neck, and shoulder.

“He has been traumatised by the experience, he has suffered nightmares and it has taken him a very long time to get through the difficulties caused by this experience.”

The judge added: “I have found this a difficult decision to make but on balance, I will suspend the sentence.”

Jessica Slaughter, prosecuting, said Taylor’s ex-partner took her son for medical attention as soon as she saw the extent of his injuries when he arrived at her sister’s home.

“At 4.30am, she received a call from the defendant saying that he had heard a bang and her sone had fallen out of bed. He reassured his mother that he had picked him up and settled him back down,” she said.

“She was immediately shocked when she saw her son, she cried straight away when she noticed he had bruising to his ear and scalp. She found further injuries on closer inspection.”

The boy had suffered bruising to both ears, neck and shoulders, and a medical examination ruled out the injuries could have been caused by a fall.

Tom Bennett, in mitigation, told the court that his client had ‘expressed his regret and disgust in himself’ since the assault took place.

Taylor, of Shelley Road, Middlesbrough, admitted causing actual bodily harm on the day his trial was listed.

He was ordered to attend 30 rehabilitation activity requirement day and carry out 220 hours of unpaid work.

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